Yard Work

Our yard was a little neglected during the months of August and September since most of our time was spent in the hospital. During the month of October, we were so happy to be home with our little girl and enjoy our time with her that the yard continued to get little attention. So today with the weather being so nice, Jared and I got to work while Harper supervised in her "magic" swing chair.

So today, I am thankful for our leaf blower. While I still got a good work out from the rake, the blower was very helpful in that I won't be too sore to pick up the little peanut tomorrow. Yard of the Month award, we're coming for you!

Nap Time

We had a busy morning this morning. Jared and I went to the San Antonio Start! Heart Walk. Field Johnson is Harper's friend who was born with a heart condition so we walked to support Field. We were going to bring the little Nugget along but we woke up to a 39 degree morning so she got to stay warm at Honey and Grandy's house.

Jared didn't get in from a work trip until 10:30pm last night so coupled with our early morning, today I am thankful for afternoon naps. I don't think naps get the credit they deserve. Jared and I have both always been big supporters of a weekend nap but they've taken on a whole new meaning with a small child around. It can be a challenge to squeeze one in while your baby is down when you have a million other things to do during that time. However, that sweet, sweet afternoon slumber can be just what a parent needs to recharge the batteries, especially when your child likes to have her pacifier placed back in her mouth so she can go back to sleep at 2:30am, 3:30am, 4am, 5am....oh, and 5:30am. I'm not naming any names, I'm just sayin'.

So to you my dear friend afternoon nap, I don't think we visit each other often enough but when we do, I am always reminded how good you are to me and how I cherish our time together. So don't you go being a stranger, you hear? You come along and visit the Meabon household any time you'd like.

Alarm Systems

Since Jared traveled for work last night, I'd like to dedicate my thanks on November 5 to alarm systems.

I am a wimp...a BIG wimp. I am 30 years old and I get scared when it gets dark outside. Now, I have gotten better since my days of checking every closet and behind every shower curtain wielding a kitchen knife but I think this is in large part due to our alarm systems. We have two alarm systems, one wired into our house and one living in our house. Our primary alarm has a punch code and is monitored 24 hours per day by a company. Our secondary alarm system goes by the name Rooney and begs for food at our dinner table.

So I'd like to give thanks to the alarms that let me know when someone comes into our house and sometimes just when someone is walking by our house. I sleep a little more soundly with the assistance of these two alarms....well, and my baseball bat too.

Three Months Old

Today, November 4, I am thankful for my baby girl turning 3 months old. Attaway to grow Harper! Just three short months ago, we were told to prepare ourselves in case Harper didn't make it. It was beyond our wildest wishes that she would be out of the hospital and doing so well at three months.

I am so thankful for my three month old who is full of smiles, giggles and babble. I'm even thankful for her projectile spit up and constant drooling. She is full of personality and fills my heart with joy every time I look at her. My friend Julie came to visit yesterday and asked if I'd gotten past that point where I just want to stare at Harper all of the time. Nope, not officially past that point.

Happy three months Harps!

Janet, Jake, Jane, Honey Bunny, Honey or just Mom

November 3 marks a very special day - it’s my Mom’s birthday. So on this November 3, I am so very thankful for my mom.

I’m one of those lucky girls that can call my mom one of my best friends. There isn’t a day that goes by that we don’t have numerous conversations about all aspects of life. She’s always there to give me advice for things as small as where to find greek seasoning in the grocery store to big issues like how will I be the mother I need to be for my precious baby girl. The past 3 months have given me a whole new appreciation for my mom and I am so thankful for the type of mother she’s taught me to be. I only hope that I can do half as good a job at being Harper’s mom and that Harper and I grow to have the type of relationship that my mom and I have.

Over the last few years, she has seen every person in her immediate family be affected by some type of medical issue and she has been a rock for all of us. The strength, courage, faith and determination she’s shown have been lessons to me on how to be a better woman, wife and mother. I am so grateful to have her as a role model in this crazy world and will pass the lessons she’s taught me on to my own little girl.

So here are a few of the invaluable lessons I’ve learned over the years from my mom:
1. Birthdays should be celebrated with gusto! And it’s never too early to start a birthday countdown.
2. Budget shopping is an art form.
3. Christmas decorations are not to go up until after Thanksgiving and should be down by New Years. However, when it comes to Christmas decorating, go all out!
4. It’s never too cold to have the top down on a convertible. Just crank up the heat and wear a jacket.
5. Handwritten notes are special and will always be appreciated.
6. Pretty is as pretty does.
7. Communication in a marriage is key and when you argue, don’t let it last long.
8. When baking cookies, don’t forget to add the flour.
9. Be a good friend.
10. Never hesitate to pick up the phone, write a note or just send a quick email when someone you know is hurting. Kind words will mean so much to the receiver and it’s better to acknowledge their situation than to think you have nothing to say.
11. When a baby needs to poop, push on their feet and it helps them with the movement.
12. A lamp can add the perfect final touch to a room, a book shelf or a countertop. You can never have too many lamps.
13. Ordering a Greenberg Smoked Turkey for the holidays is not only easier but much more delicious than making one yourself.
14. Listen to anyone over the age of 70. You can learn valuable lessons from them.
15. Putting Sun-In on your daughter's hair during the summer months and letting her swimming in the pool every day will lead to green hair.
16. Answer your children's questions honestly, no matter how hard they might be or how young you think they are.
17. Be the parent that other kids will talk to. You might not like all of the details you hear about your child's life but at least you'll know what's going on.
18. Dogs will always love you and will sleep with their head on your pillow if you let them.
19. Be an amazing grandmother! Grandkids will make you very happy.
20. Love your children, laugh with them, cry with them and learn to be flexible and you will be a wonderful mom.

Happy birthday to the ultimate birthday queen! I love you Mom.

Elections

On the second day of this month of Thanksgiving, I am thankful that we live in a society where my little girl will grow up knowing she can be anything she puts her mind to. She will have a voice in our political elections and could even be a Congresswoman, a Senator or even President one day. I am thankful she was born in a time when we elected our first black president and I hope that she will soon see our first female president.

So to show Harper just how it's done, we voted today. I'm also thankful that there wasn't a line a 10:30am and we were in and out in no time! And with parents on opposing ends of the political spectrum, she'll be sure to grow up hearing views from both sides and can make her own decision on where she stands.

Happy Hallo-weenie!

Harper-Dog

I’d planned to update a lot earlier than today but Harper literally had the busiest week of her life last week. The girl has become a social butterfly and had a number of engagements to attend.

We started the week with the Oakwood Spookfest. Our neighborhood puts on a mini-Halloween carnival with games, a chili cook-off and a costume contest so Harper made her official introduction to the neighborhood. We didn’t participate in the chili cook-off since Jared, being from Pennsylvania, is a firm believer that chili should only be consumed when its 45 degrees or colder outside. Darlin’, welcome to Texas! Its rarely colder than 70 degrees outside! We’re working on the Texas adjustment and I have high hopes that we’ll be a chili contestant in the 2011 Spookfest Chili Cook-off.

Tuesday was action packed. We started off with a lunch hosted by Honey for the Class of 2029 along with their mommies and grandmommies. As you can see, we tried for a group picture but its not easy to get 5 babies below 6months of age to all cooperate as needed. In eighteen short years, these five will be leaving these mommies in tears as they head off for their perspective universities. And we all know Harper is Harvard bound so I just wonder where everyone else will go!



Youngest to Oldest - Anabelle, Mateo, Harper, Sutton and Field

We wrapped Tuesday afternoon up with a Halloween party at the park with all the girls in my dinner club and their kids. Again, we tried for a group photo. Have you ever seen a group of moms try to get a group of about 20 kids under the age of five to pose for a picture? Next time I need to film the moms. We were dancing, singing, calling names, making faces. Don’t know you know the kids are all looking at us thinking, what in the heck are THEY doing??? Harper finally got to debut her Halloween costume. Since it was hot outside, we came in her Halloween dress and decided to put on the costume once settled. Well, I slipped Harper in her hotdog, she turned her head and promptly spewed spit up all down the inside of her first Halloween costume. After pulling her out, drying her off, wiping the inside out and making sure she was done with the spit up, I slipped her back in for about five minutes worth of pictures. Hmm, somehow I had pictured that going differently in my head.
Group Shot

Just before the spit up

Anabelle's costume
Sutton was worn out!

On Wednesday, Harper woke up and decided she was going to be a diva for the day. Miss Priss was just fussy but I can totally understand. After wearing her out as much as I did on Tuesday, the poor thing was exhausted. We had physical therapy that morning so headed out to see Elaine. We love Elaine and she’s so good at working with babies. Harps was great for the first ten minutes and then had a complete meltdown. That ended our PT session so the two of us headed home and this was how Jared found us later that afternoon.


We finally made it to the pumpkin patch on Friday for the obligatory annual photo. I learned a valuable new mom lesson: Don’t wait until October 29 to visit the pumpkin patch. Needless to say, the patch was a little, um, depleted. I also realized that an infant will most likely do to the pumpkins what they do with everything else – try to eat them. What are the chances they sanitized that pumpkin before my child decided to gnaw on it?






As for yesterday’s Halloween festivities, we took part. Since we might have child services called on us if we fed Harper Halloween candy, I decided to bake treats for our neighbors so we could reverse Trick or Treat and drop treats to them while still modeling the Hotdog. Now, those who know me well know that I have a pretty hard time finding my way around the kitchen…but I’m trying! I’ve started venturing into the cooking thing and have had some success. For those that don’t know me, here’s a little history. When I was in my first trimester with our little nugget, I was craving ANYTHING that involved ground beef as the main ingredient – hamburger patties, spaghetti sauce with beef, meatloaf… I decided I needed to have meatloaf for dinner and since most restaurants don’t serve meatloaf (go figure), I was going to make it myself. Well, not only did Jared and I end up with a mildly charred serving of meatloaf but we also ended up with the fire department, full fire truck and all, at our house to remove our oven. After living in the house for 3 years, Jared wasn’t too happy that I decided to use the oven for the 5th time and almost set our house on fire while the house was on the market. So, yesterday’s baking adventure should have taken about an hour but ended up taking about 4 hours. At least I’m trying! After my marathon kitchen session, we took our little wiener to visit the neighbors and then the three of us parked it in the front yard to pass out candy to the trick or treaters.
Cookies

Ready for Trick or Treaters

I mentioned PT earlier and Harper is doing great with her sessions. Since she can’t lie directly on her stomach, we’re working on a modified version of tummy time and she’s really doing well with her head control. Its funny because her eyebrows automatically go up each time she's turned on her belly. We’re also working on sitting up, rolling and neck stretches. We’ll continue with PT until they feel Harper is caught up to where she should be but at this point, it will be about 6 months worth.


I’m also excited to say that I’m reclaiming my membership in the running community. Its been so nice to get my feet back underneath me and I can’t wait until Harper hits the 6 month mark and can start joining me on runs. We’ve been doing some power walking but the girl’s gonna love it when she feels the exhilaration of a run! I’m definitely not back up to my marathon training distances but little by little, I’m adding on. Who knows, maybe I’ll shoot for a half early in the spring! Anyone want to join?

I’m a little late with a welcome but we want to give a big “Welcome to the world!” to Eli Arnold who was born a week and a half ago. Sorry for the delay Eli but we’re thrilled to have you join us!

We are so happy for the month of November. We have SO MUCH to be thankful for. Thankful item #1: Harper was home for Halloween! Three months ago we didn’t think it would be possible but we were so happy to have our little girl home to celebrate the fun. More thanksgivings to come…